“More Power!” and the EV Charging Problem: What Tool Time Can Teach Us About Simplicity
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If you grew up watching Home Improvement, you probably remember Tool Time, the fictional show-within-a-show where Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor would take a perfectly functional appliance and soup it up with “More Power!”—only for it to immediately explode, catch fire, or destroy a wall.
Funny on TV. A nightmare in real life.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what’s happening in the EV charging industry today.
Overengineering: The EV Industry’s Tool Time Problem
Today’s EV charging manufacturers have fallen into the same trap as Tim Taylor: They can’t stop adding more power, more features, more complexity—without asking if any of it actually makes sense.
Want to install a charger in your apartment garage? Here comes a $10,000 panel upgrade.
Need to manage a few drivers? You’re now stuck with a backend platform that looks like it was built for NASA.
One broken cable? Say goodbye to that station for 3–4 weeks while you wait for a certified electrician to replace it.
They’ve taken something that should be simple—plug in, charge, go—and turned it into a logistical and financial headache for property owners.
Keep It Simple: Why Pando Took a Different Path
At Pando, we looked at the chaos and decided to go the other way.
Instead of overengineering, we designed the Pando Smart Outlet to be everything you need—and nothing you don’t.
NEMA 14-50 power (the standard for EV charging across North America)
Smart software and load management, but not a bloated backend
Tap-and-Charge technology— no app confusion, just tap and go
Modular cable system so if a cord gets damaged, it’s replaced in minutes (not weeks)
And it’s up to 70% less expensive to install compared to traditional EV charging stations
No exploding water heaters. No 3-phase circuit redesigns. Just simple, reliable EV charging that works.
The Cost of Complexity
EV charging doesn’t fail because the technology isn’t there—it fails because the solutions are designed for tech demos, not parking garages.
Property owners don’t want to become IT admins.
Residents don’t want to download five apps just to charge.
And no one wants to rip out a charger every time Tesla changes its plug.
Yet that’s what happens when charging companies chase features over function.
What Tool Time Got Right (and Wrong)
Yes, Tim Taylor’s disasters were fictional. But the lesson is real: More power is only good when it actually improves the outcome.
In EV charging, “more power” has become an excuse to add unnecessary layers of hardware, software, and costs. That’s why the systems break. That’s why the ROI doesn’t work. That’s why property owners get burned.
Pando = The Al Borland of EV Charging
You remember Al—the quiet co-host who always had the right tool for the job? That’s Pando.
We’re not flashy. We’re not here to reinvent the wheel. We’re here to provide EV charging that works—affordably, reliably, and at scale.
Because the future of transportation shouldn’t be a punchline.
